The present invention relates generally to instruments for evaluating tissue in medical pathology, either ex vivo or in vivo, and in particular to a device that characterizes tissue using precise measurements of electrical impedance of the tissue.
The diagnosis of cancer and other diseases is often made by the examination of tissue samples which may be removed from the patient during a biopsy or surgical procedure or examined in vivo. These samples may be examined by a pathologist who studies these samples, including the electrical characteristics of these samples, to reach a conclusion about whether the tissue is cancerous.
The acquisition and use of impedance measurements of tissue, and the prospective usage of these measurements in the diagnosis of cancer, have been described in a number of patents including patent application Ser. No. 12/417,075, Apparatus and Method for Evaluating Ex Vivo Tissue Samples by Electrical Impedance and patent application Ser. No. 12/042,425, Method for Detecting Both Pre-Cancerous and Cancerous Tissues, both to the present inventor.